Personal electronic devices, including cellular phones, media players (e.g., mp3, mp4, etc.), PDAs, E-readers, laptop computers, notebook computers, tablets, walkie talkies, Bluetooth, WIFI accessories and other such devices, including massagers and sometimes even adult sex toys (collectively referred to herein as “Electronic Devices”) are ubiquitous. A recent study has shown that approximately 85% of American adults have cellular phones, 61% have laptop computers, 18% have E-readers and 18% have tablets. Joanna Brenner, Pew Internet Mobile, Pew Internet: Mobile (Oct. 16, 2012), http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/February/Pew-Internet-Mobile.aspx. In addition, a significant percentage of children have Electronic Devices, including their own cell phones, computers and/or ipads/tablets. Some Electronic Devices, such as cell phones (including smart phones) and tablets (e.g., ipads) are used on a daily basis in classrooms and handled by multiple users. Doctors, nurses and the Healthcare providers carry these devices almost everywhere they go. Hand sanitization is only effective until recontamination occurs, which happens immediately upon touching a contaminated surface. Indeed, the technology used for Electronic Devices and the data programs designed by telecommunications companies promote the portability and multitasking capability of these Electronic Devices everywhere and anywhere.
There are 6,600 hospitals, 65,000 assisted living facilities just in the United States employing over 10 million people, including 2 million nurses, 650,000 doctors.
Electronic Devices are almost always hand operated, requiring the user to touch buttons and screens with their hand(s) and fingers. Consequently, contaminants present on the user's hand(s), including dirt, debris, gram-negative bacteria, germs, fungus, viruses and other pathogenic microorganisms transfer onto the Electronic Devices. Without proper cleaning, the hand hygiene for each and every user of a particular Electronic Device is directly related to the health and well being of all people that come in contact with the Electronic Devices and other items those people handle and touch. Cross-contamination through such Electronic Devices is common and is a problem. The Electronic Device acts as a fomit or vehicle by transferring gram-negative bacteria, fungus and viruses from one person to another. In hospitals and medical facilities the #1 protocol fighting Hospital Acquired infections (HAI's) is hand washing, or as it is more clinically known in the hospital industry, hand-hygiene. Hand washing is only effective until recontamination occurs, which happens immediately upon touching a contaminated surface. Researchers suggest one in six mobile phones is contaminated with fecal matter.
There is a panoply of efforts to promote a basic tenet of infection prevention. With drug-resistant superbugs on the rise, according to a recent report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and with hospital acquired infections costing $30 billion and leading to nearly 100,000 patient deaths a year hospitals are willing to try almost anything to reduce the risk of transmissions. The New York Times; Wednesday, May 29, 2013.
Most people carry Electronic Devices wherever they travel and use the devices while simultaneously performing other tasks, including eating, working, and even while using the lavatory. It is not uncommon for people to drop the Electronic Devices on the ground or to place them on a unwashed table or counter at home or in a pubic place, resulting in the device(s) coming into contact with contaminates, such as gram-negative bacteria, viruses, and fungi, on those surfaces. Contamination and cross-contamination of Electronic Devices is of particular concern in and around medical facilities, such as hospitals, where patients, staff, and practitioners wash there hands and cross-contaminate when they carry the Electronic Devices into exam rooms, operating rooms, quarantined areas, where patients having a suppressed and compromised immune systems are highly susceptible and potentially life threatening.
The Electronic Devices are used while a person is there and while the person may wash his/her hands upon leaving, the Electronics Devices remains contaminated
Indeed, in order for hospitals to maintain “terminal” cleaning regimens for the daily use of such electronic devices (that being said “cell phone” and “PDAs”) within the hospital is paramount. Such devices not being one time use or disposable, should be disinfected and maintained after each and every use to eliminate a variable of infection. An obvious conclusion is these devices are a leading fomit or route to pass pathogens between patients. Hospital acquired infected patients in the U.S. are estimated by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC) to be in the millions. Wikipedia, Hospital-acquired infection, wikipedia.org, May 2013. The average additional hospital cost when a patient contracts an infection is $15,275. Estimated 2,000,000 infections per year equates to $30.5 Billion dollars. The flu virus can survive on surfaces from 2-8 hours, according to the CDC. And MRSA, (a staph bacteria resistant to common antibiotics) can be present and viable on surfaces from up to 8-9 days based on studies. Forbes; Pharma & Healthcare Jan. 24, 2013.
Recent studies about bacterial colonization and biofilms on the surface of cellular phones have shown that numerous gram-negative bacteria cultures are commonly found on most cellular phone devices including Klebsiella pneumonia, Citrobacter spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CNS), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp., MRSA, Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Streptococcus pneumonia, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. These contaminants are known to exist on exposed surfaces up to 8-9 days per the CDC studies (Forbes; Pharma & Healthcare Jan. 24, 2013) as well as within a device's crevices (e.g., between panels, keys, buttons, etc.). Exposure to such bacteria can lead to the spread of bacterial, viral and fungi infections and can be fatal in some people with certain underlying health conditions as a suppressed or compromised immune system, e.g., babies and elderly, who are most susceptible. A continuous-time process to proper sanitization of routinely used electrical device is crucial.
Several attempts have been made to overcome the problems associated with the contamination of Electronic Devices. Some users are pro-active and use household cleaners on the Electronic Devices, but the majority are reactive and use antibiotics to eliminate their reoccurring infections. The indiscriminate and inappropriate use of antibiotics in outpatient clinics, hospitalized patients, and in the food industry, is the single largest factor leading to antibiotic resistance posing a risk to post-antibiotic resistance.
One major problem with household cleaners and antibiotics is it creates the potential for microbes like the superbug MRSA to become antibiotic resistant stated by the CDC (Centers for Disease and Prevention). In addition, they often contain chemicals that are non-compatible and harmful to electronics and in some instances, to people also. Household cleaners leave residues behind containing traces of cleaning agents such as ammonia and bleach and in some instances other more abrasive and harmful chemicals. After cleaning, when the user begins to handle the device, the chemicals left on the Electronic Devices transfer onto the user's hands and fingers and other parts of their body that they touch with the device, e.g., face and ears, or other parts of their body, oftentimes causing irritation to the skin, eyes and ears. Also, if the user is not careful when cleaning Electronic Devices using a non-approved cleaner in liquid form, the liquids could come into contact with and damage the delicate circuitry that exists within the device. Using detergents and cleaning agents can also be time consuming, and cumbersome, particularly when a user needs to clean several different pieces of Electronic Devices, preferably on a regular and recurring basis.
Sanitizing wipes are also used to clean Electronic Devices. Sanitizing wipes are typically saturated with an alcohol-based solution that acts to kill bacteria as the wipe is pressed over surfaces. Sanitizing wipes are often disposable and because the alcohol-cleaning agent evaporates once exposed to the air, they can only be used once before having to be discarded. Accordingly, users must constantly purchase additional disposable wipes to clean their Electronic Devices, which can be costly and not practical. In hospitals, in order to maintain compliance, the Electronic Device would have to be wiped down after each and every use. The chemicals used in sanitizing wipes may also be harmful to Electronic Devices, both the electrical components inside and the outside surfaces and coatings of the Electronics Device. The repeated exposure of a device's plastic and other synthetic components to certain cleaning agents may cause discoloration and deterioration. Using wipes to clean Electronic Devices also requires the individual to periodically replenish disposable products.
Another method of sanitizing Electronic Devices includes exposure to Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UV) light. UV light has been shown to kill microorganisms by damaging their DNA. The Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (“UVGI”) utilizes short-wavelength ultraviolet radiation (UV-C) that is harmful to microorganisms. It is effective in destroying the nucleic acids in these organisms so that their DNA is disrupted by the UV radiation, leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions. Several devices are currently available that utilize such UVGI light to sanitize the surfaces of Electronics. These UV sanitizers typically require a user to place the Electronic Devices within a chamber with a UV light emitted by special light bulbs. Some devices may be operated using batteries, some by plugging them into a wall outlet and others may be operated by either method but all require electricity to operate making them more costly to operate and less portable. UV sanitizers are also typically larger than the Electronic Devices making them much less portable and less convenient to transport. Also, because they contain bulbs that are affected by dust or other film coatings can lower UV output and increase the time and temperature to eliminate microbes. UV sanitizers are more fragile and more susceptible to being damaged if dropped or if they sustain an impact.
Significantly, for all of the above described methods, if there is not 99.99% kill of bacteria and germs, the subsequent effectiveness of the same method on the same microbes decreases due to adaptability and evolution of the microbes. Eventually, the microbes become resistant to the cleaning agents creating a “superbug.”
Most people remain completely unaware of the probability of cross-contamination on Electronic Devices and the health risks resulting, some life threatening. Cross-contamination through the Electronic Devices is known as a fomit or route of pathogens from a person to another. Although an Electronic Device may appear to be clean to the naked eye, gram-negative bacteria, fungus and viruses are not visible to the naked eye when present. Contaminants may transfer from the Electronic Devices to the user or even between several users when a single Electronic Device is shared among multiple users. In turn, it promotes the spread of gram-negative bacteria, fungus and viruses. Researchers have discovered non-porous surfaces pose the most threat to the transmission of bacteria, fungus and viruses by the pathogen forming a biofilm on the surface. Unfortunately, very few people take measures or time to clean Electronic Devices unless they are visibly dirty, such as smears/smudges on a screen, or have some form of physical dirt or debris on them (e.g. the device is sticky). Even still, the cleaning equipment and methods available and in use do not properly or thoroughly sanitize, clean and protect the Electronic Devices user ('s). Furthermore, if an individual does decide to clean an Electronic Device using one of the aforementioned technologies, the cleaning is not done frequently enough to maintain a clean Electronic Device.
There is a strong need for an easy to use, protective barrier and cleaning device with the efficiency to work day & night for proper protection against infection. One that is conveniently transported and safe to use. A sanitizing device that eliminates contaminants (bacterial colonization) frequently found on Electronic Devices. There is a need for a storage device that also cleans and disinfects the Electronic Devices during transport, storage and non-use. There is a need for a device that holds and stores the Electronic Device with an integrated cleaning and disinfection system that eliminates the need for other liquids, chemicals, or products to achieve the cleaning results. There is a need for a device that performs all of the above and that also includes an integral smear/smudge antimicrobial removal pad for the screens on the Electronic Devices that also disinfects and cleans the biofilms off of the non-porous glass screens. There is a need for a proven device that reduces the potential for the development of antimicrobial resistance commonly encountered by microbial mutation and antibiotic resistance. There is a need for a device used multiple times without cleaning between uses and are at high risk of bacterial colonization. There is also a need for a device that avoids the pitfalls associated with less than 99.99% kill rates and the potential of microbial resistance to chemical disinfectants.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a device that can passively sanitize Electronic Devices without the use of liquids, harsh chemicals or detergents. It is also an object of the invention to provide a device that can sanitize Electronic Devices with minimal effort from its user. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a compact, portable, and completely self-contained device that can sanitize Electronic Devices without solutions, detergents, electricity, batteries or other products requiring replenishment. Another object of the invention is to provide a device that can sanitize Electronic Devices in a short period of time and with a high kill rate for gram-negative bacteria, fungus and viruses and germs. Another object of the invention is to provide a device that can sanitize Electronic Devices, a device proven to inhibit the growth of microbial colonization and exhibits antimicrobial activity against a broad range of micro-organisms. Still another object of the invention is to provide a device that can perform all of the above and that is easily and conveniently transported. Another object of the invention is to provide a device that is continuously reusable and which does not have adverse effects on the Electronic Device users or there environment. Another object of the invention is to provide a device that is stretchable and conforming to the shape of an Electronic Device such that a substantial amount of the surface area of the device is in contact with the Electronic Device thereby sanitizing those parts in direct contact.
In addition, another object of the invention is to have the ability to be anti-static, while also absorbing harmful emitted radiation to the user.